B2C Marketing Guide: Audience, Positioning, Sales Channels

If you’ve found yourself frantically and endlessly searching for a quality B2C marketing guide to no avail, then your search ends here. Chances are some of you may be wondering about B2C meaning.

B2C stands for business to consumer and applies to an array of industries. Essentially, B2C means that a company sells products/services directly to the consumer, who then can decide whether or not they’d like to purchase. That’s not to say that B2C companies don’t hold some power over the decision-making process. This is where B2C marketing comes into play.

Let’s take B2C out of the equation for a moment, we’ll return to it later. For now, let’s cover the importance of marketing.

Without a decent marketing strategy, business to customer services and even business to business services would ultimately fail. You can have the best product or service in the world, but if no one knows about it then how can they purchase it? This is why marketing is so important and, when done right, it can propel your business into the stratosphere.

Marketing is even more important for B2C businesses than B2B businesses. B2C marketing is essential to ensure the success of the business. As an entity that sells directly to the consumer, a lot comes into play when developing a business-to-customer marketing strategy. But don’t worry!

In this article, we will cover what is B2C marketing, B2C marketing vs. B2B marketing, and how to build a great B2C marketing strategy.

Let’s get started.

What Is B2C Marketing?

If you’re anything like the rest of the population, chances are you’ve taken a trip to the local grocery store in the past two weeks. Maybe you’re a fan of Amazon and got a little crazy ordering some knick-knacks. Whatever the case, you are a consumer. With this in mind, it’s no question why most B2C businesses thrive with such a vast consumer base. Keep in mind, it is their marketing that gets the consumer in the door.

So, what is B2C marketing?

B2C marketing is a broad term that is used to define how business-to-consumer companies market themselves and their products/services to the public. This differs from the term “B2B marketing” in which companies, specifically business to business companies, market their goods and services to other companies, rather than directly to consumers.

The goals of a B2C marketing approach often include raising brand awareness, getting more leads, increasing engagement, driving more sales, boosting customer retention, and more. In short, B2C marketing is a crucial part of how business-to-consumer companies garner success. Without a great marketing strategy, a business will likely not see as much success as it would have if it marketed itself and its products the right way.

Now let’s dive a little bit further into the differences between B2C and B2B marketing.

B2C Marketing vs. B2B Marketing

Although many might get confused as to how marketing strategies differ between B2C companies and B2B companies, there are some key distinctions.

While both do seek to create awareness in the minds of consumers as well as to spur more sales, the methods by which B2B and B2C companies approach these objectives differ substantially. Specifically, elements such as type of buyer, target market, sales cycle, and purchase intent differ immensely.

B2B marketing

In terms of B2B marketing, a lot of due diligence is required. Whereas B2C companies market to one specific decision-maker (the consumer), B2B companies often deal with a much longer and more involved decision-making process consisting of teams, managers, CEOs, etc.

This often means that a lot more consideration and time goes into creating a marketing strategy that can easily influence the many decision-makers involved in the process. B2B company clients are other businesses, which means that a lot more comes into play during the marketing and selling process than with a B2C company.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some unique intricacies to B2C marketing.

B2C marketing

In terms of B2C marketing, businesses market directly to the consumer, who is the sole decision-maker when it comes time to purchase. B2C marketing efforts often include targeting the largest number of consumers possible.

Think of Target, Apple, Walmart, and Publix ads as just a handful of examples. The reason that B2C marketing is often general and targets large quantities of segments is because purchases are often instantaneous and impulsive.

With this in mind, one single compelling advertisement could be enough to convince a consumer to want a banana and then go out and buy it. The factors that ultimately make B2B marketing and B2C marketing differ are the drivers of purchase, the markets, decision-making processes, cost of selling, and more.

How to Build a Great B2C Marketing Strategy

Success in any marketing campaign is ultimately dependent on invoking an emotional response from consumers. If you’ve ever worked in a sales-oriented environment, you know that people buy based on emotion. This is why it is so important for businesses to craft enticing content that resonates with their target audiences.

B2C marketing strategies have to connect with audiences so that they feel compelled to buy. B2C businesses must form emotional connections with customers, foster trust, and be in constant communication in order to be successful. This is why developing a good marketing strategy that does its job is so vital.

If you want to be successful in your B2C endeavors, then the following are the rules of thumb for you to live by.

Understand how consumers think

Before acting on your marketing strategy or marketing tactics, you first need to have a sound understanding of how consumers think. Whether this is your target audience or your grandparent, all consumers generally think alike.

In short, for a B2C marketing strategy to work, you have to understand the psychology behind customer decision-making and why consumers think the way that they do. This means conducting adequate research into your consumer base and understanding their needs.

Understand your target audience

By understanding and defining the needs of your target audience, it’s no secret that you’ll be better at marketing to them. You’ll also want to ask yourself what other segments your target audience has influence over and how you may approach that segment.

Whatever the case may be, you want to define the needs of every consumer you plan to target, learn about their habits, and market your product or service based on what they want and what’s trending for that market.

Position your product or service

Positioning your product/service properly is key once you have a basic understanding of how your target audience thinks and what their wants are. You’ll also want to consider your competitors. In some cases, positioning yourself and your product the right way can impact how target audiences view competitors.

The end goal is to ask yourself if your product or service is right for a certain market, what makes it unique, how it can help, and then market those key distinctions efficiently and effectively. This all starts with understanding what makes your product/service special, as well as the needs and habits of your target audience.

Choose your marketing channel

Once you’ve figured out what makes your product/service special, why it’s better than your competitors’ product/service, and how it can help your target market, then you can figure out how to market your product/service.

There are a variety of options available to market your product/service. Whether you choose email marketing, SEO-driven content marketing, social media marketing, advertising, public relations, doesn’t really matter. What matters most is that the channels you decide to use reach your target audience.

After all, what’s the use of producing a newspaper advertisement if your target market doesn’t even read the newspaper?

Create content that can convert customers

Deciding on the right way to market your product will take some due diligence. But, before you dive into figuring out how you’d like to market your product/service, you’ll first need to create good content. Your content has to speak to your audience and captivate them in a way that keeps them wanting more.

Your content should include what makes your company different, what makes your product different, and how either of them can help a consumer. Remember, the goal is to cast a wide net given the nature of your B2C business.

With this in mind, email marketing, social media marketing, and advertising are your best bet for brand recognition and lead generation.

Are You Ready to Get to Work?

Ok, now that you have a good grasp on the importance of B2C marketing, how it differs from B2B marketing, and how to come up with a good marketing strategy, it’s time to put your knowledge to use. Consider the rules of thumb to live by as you develop your marketing strategy and, as always, be sure to research your market first.

Researching your market beforehand will pay off big time as you work to craft the right marketing strategy for your target audience. When you’re ready to market yourself, highlight what makes your B2C company different, and emphasize why your product is so unique and important.

Following this guide will have you well on your way to becoming a B2C marketing pro!

Give your B2C customers the shopping experience they deserve
Learn more

• What is B2C? Everything About Business to Customer Model
• B2C Marketing Guide: Audience, Positioning, Sales Channels
• What is B2C Ecommerce?